https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=527679
Bug ID: 527679
Summary: Second screen recording in the same Spectacle process
is written to the previous recording's temp filename,
export fails with "Temporary file URL must be an
existing local file"
Classification: Applications
Product: Spectacle
Version First 6.7.5
Reported In:
Platform: Gentoo Packages
OS: Linux
Status: REPORTED
Severity: major
Priority: NOR
Component: General
Assignee: [email protected]
Reporter: [email protected]
CC: [email protected]
Target Milestone: ---
SUMMARY
While Spectacle stays running (here as the background `spectacle --dbus`
instance), the first screen recording saves fine, but every later recording in
the same process fails to save.
The encoder writes each new recording into the temp file of the *previous*
recording, while Spectacle then tries to export a file named after the *new*
recording's timestamp. That file never exists, so the export fails. Because the
real video sits in /tmp/Spectacle.XXXXXX under the wrong name and that
directory is deleted when Spectacle exits, the recording is lost unless it is
rescued by hand.
STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Start Spectacle and make a screen recording (WebM / VP9 in my case). Stop
it.
2. Without quitting Spectacle, start a second recording and stop it.
3. Optionally repeat with a third recording.
OBSERVED RESULT
The first recording is saved. The second and third fail with:
Failed to export video: Temporary file URL must be an existing local file
Timeline from one session (PID 2174216, temp dir /tmp/Spectacle.Kwcvrx):
Started Encoder wrote to Spectacle exported
Result
17:49:02 Screencast_20261023_174902.webm ..._174902.webm
saved OK
17:57:44 Screencast_20261023_174902.webm * ..._175744.webm
export failed
18:01:59 Screencast_20261023_175744.webm ..._180159.webm
export failed
* overwrote the first recording's temp file
Temp dir contents after the failures (file mtimes and ffprobe durations match
the 2nd and 3rd recordings exactly):
Screencast_20261023_174902.webm 26.5 MB mtime 18:01 duration 204.3 s (=
2nd recording, 17:57:44 + 204 s)
Screencast_20261023_175744.webm 272 KB mtime 18:02 duration 4.7 s (=
3rd recording)
So the output path handed to the recorder seems to lag one recording behind the
filename Spectacle later expects.
Relevant journal lines:
17:49:42 kf.kio.workers.file: copy()
QUrl("file:///tmp/Spectacle.Kwcvrx/Screencast_20261023_174902.webm") to
QUrl("file:///home/jargo/Videos/Screencasts/Screencast_20261023_174902.webm")
mode= -1
17:57:34 QQmlComponent: Cannot create a component in an invalid context
(x2, just before the 2nd recording; may be unrelated)
18:01:08 Failed to export video: Temporary file URL must be an existing local
file
18:01:58 qt.multimedia.ffmpeg.mediadataholder: Could not open media. FFmpeg
error description: No such file or directory
18:02:04 Failed to export video: Temporary file URL must be an existing local
file
EXPECTED RESULT
Each recording is written to its own temp file and saved under its own name, no
matter how many recordings are made in the same Spectacle process.
WORKAROUND
Quit Spectacle completely between recordings (e.g. `pkill spectacle`). The
first recording in a fresh process always saved correctly. Files stranded by
the bug can be copied out of /tmp/Spectacle.XXXXXX before Spectacle exits.
SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Linux/KDE Plasma: Gentoo Linux, kernel 6.18.57-gentoo-dist-bin
KDE Plasma Version: 6.7.5 (Wayland session, KWin 6.7.5)
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.29.0
Qt Version: 6.11.2
Spectacle: 6.7.5, KPipeWire: 6.7.5
FFmpeg 8.1.3, libvpx 1.16.0, PipeWire 1.6.8
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Hardware: Lenovo ThinkPad T14s, Intel TigerLake-LP GT2 (Iris Xe), Mesa 26.1.8,
intel-media-driver 26.2.4.
Single eDP display, 2.1x scaling. Recording format: WebM (VP9), encoded with
libvpx-vp9 (VAAPI VP9 encode is not available on this GPU).
Seen in one session so far; it was not a crash, the process kept running.
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